The final chapter! This last bit of the story has been bouncing around in my head since the previous update, and watching Leverage: Redemption reminded me how much fun it is to play in these characters' heads! So, here you go :)
/
Kate clumsily crawled her way through the air ducts to the roof. Her knees bumped the ground, her hands were starting to sweat and slide on the walls - she was feeling distinctly less cool than she hoped. In her defense, she had only ever practiced in Parker and Hardison's vents, and once at her high school, but her parents didn't need to know that...they likely did know, but she didn't need to check. She was trying to focus on the sound of Parker's voice giddily guiding her turn by turn, but no matter how hard she tried, her parents' bickering cut through as they docked the boat and raced toward downtown.
"Cleat Hitch, Sophie, Cleat Hitch! For the last time, you can't just tie a regular knot, the boat will float away!"
"If you say 'Cleat Hitch' one more time, I'm going to push the damn thing out to sea myself!"
Nate dropped their bags and took up the rope.
"I taught you the -" He felt her glare boring a hole in the back of his head and quickly course corrected, "- this knot when we moved to Portland!"
"And again on our honeymoon, if I recall."
"Which you did not appreciate."
"Which I did not appreciate."
Unable to focus on Parker's instructions, Kate slammed her head on a vent corner.
"Ow," she muttered.
"What's wrong?" Her parents stopped arguing to check on her in unison.
"I'm fine, just trying to concentrate here!"
"Sorry, darling." Sophie conceded.
"We're on our way." Nate affirmed.
Kate took a breath, she seemed to be as used to her parents' bicker banter as the rest of the team. She had always loved hearing stories about their early years of Leverage Inc. and in this moment she wished she was hearing one of those stories, not living it. As she took the next turn, she searched for any fraction of confidence left over from the start of her epic day and pretended to ignore a large spider very near her face.
"Parker - two more lefts, right?"
"Right - no, lefts. But, yes. You're almost there."
Back on the dock, Sophie popped her com out of her ear and gestured to her husband to do the same.
"What?" Nate asked, annoyed at trying to now juggle his com with their bags and newly acquired emergency stash of gear.
"Of all the information floating 'round my brain, I can honestly tell you that a sailor's knot will never be one of the bits that stick."
"Sophie, I want to share my passions with you. Forgive me for trying to incorporate my wife into my hobbies!"
"You have 'passion' for boats?" She asked with disdain.
"Yes! And it wouldn't kill you to put in a little effort into remembering something I care about."
"Nate, recite ONE line from Macbeth."
Nate froze. Sophie continued her forceful strides down the dock, knowing full well his only reply would be silence. Eventually, Nate caught up with her.
"You know, knots aren't all that important."
/
As Kate finally emerged from the ducts onto the roof, the sight of the sky, which she hoped would bring a sigh of relief, wound up only compounding her anxiety.
"Hey guys? Uh, how high up am I?"
"32 glorious stories!" Parker smiled, wistfully.
"6 minutes out," The sound of Eliot's engine revved in agreement with his ETA, the grifter and mastermind now in his backseat.
"That's really really high up."
"You can do this Katie. Just take a moment and take a breath," Sophie instructed her daughter as she took the advice herself.
"Mom, I hear footsteps -"
"Okay, screw the moment - here's what you're going to do…"
"WHAT?!" Kate yelped. Hardison knew that feeling.
"I feel you, girl, I feel you."
"You're out of time," Nate's urgency cut through.
"But dad, I-"
"Katherine, you've got this. Go."
By the time the footsteps reached the door to the roof, Katie was pacing by the far edge. Trying not to panic, but not really succeeding.
Tactical men in suits stormed every inch of the roof with deafening boots. Sterling followed close behind, shouting instructions to fan out and find her. Katie couldn't imagine what they did for a grown up, well-known thief if this is how they treated a snarky sophomore.
Sterling spotted her in an instant and beelined, Katie took a single step backwards toward the edge, and Sterling came to a screeching halt, gesturing for his men to do the same.
"Now now," he began, almost genuinely, "there is no reason we can't all make it safely off this roof." He eyed Katie as he spoke; she recognized it as eerily similar to the way her dad eyed her when he thought (knew) she was lying.
"It seems we got off on the wrong foot, miss…" he trailed off, once again trying for her name. "If you tell me your name, perhaps we can come to an agreement - as friends, maybe." Katie shuffled half a step backwards again, "or acquaintances, as the case may be. I don't want to hurt you and I don't want you to get hurt, alright?"
Kate could feel the bullshit dripping from his every word. Regaining some of her own pig-headedness, she glared daggers into Sterling's receding hairline. She didn't flinch, she didn't back down.
"I'll even go first. My name's Jim Sterling, and I just want to help you, okay? Could you take a small step away from the edge so I know you're safe?" Kate didn't move, which she hoped looked cool, but the pounding of her heart in her ears suggested otherwise. "Okay, alright, let's start with your first name, not even all of it. Why don't you tell me your first name and then we can talk?"
"My name?" Kate stammered, her heart sinking at the sound of her shaking voice betraying her faux power.
"Yes, my name is Sterling, Jim Sterling."
Hardison couldn't help himself, "Dude really thinks he's James Frickin' Bond, are you serious?"
"Quiet, man! She needs to focus!" Elliot hissed.
Sterling was running out of patience "And what's yours?"
"My name." Kate repeated.
"Yes, please."
"You want to know my name..."
Nate narrowed his eyes, a smirk igniting on his face; he raised a finger to his com:
"Tell him."
At this command, an identical smirk lit up Kate's face - now she felt like one of the team. She filled her lungs, straightened her stance, and shouted:
"Katherine Sabrina Devereaux-Ford!"
In the same second it took Sterling's face to lose any semblance of color, Kate launched herself backwards off the roof of the building, gripping her carabiner with newly exploded confidence. Sterling stayed stuck in time, dumbfounded. Eventually he motioned for his men to freeze as they moved to go after her,
"Not worth it, find the painting." As they dispersed, he quietly chuckled and hung his head. "Unbelievable. They're breeding thieves."
Meanwhile, Kate's confidence was apparently as fleeting as her feet on the ground.
"SHIT!" As soon as that initial moment of adrenaline had passed, she realized she was currently free-falling off a skyscraper, well, almost free-falling.
"Brake!" Parker timed her fall perfectly in her mind. Kate grabbed the carabiner.
"Brace for impact!" The Hitter reminded Kate of a fall safety technique he had first taught her at 6, just as she landed perfectly on the roof of his car. Uncle Eliot swiftly reached an arm up and scooped Kate in through the sunroof just as she unlatched her harness. "Atta girl!" Eliot cheered as he jumped back into the driver seat to speed away.
"THAT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!" Kate dove at her mother for a hug, out of breath. "That was incredible! I was INCREDIBLE!"
Sophie squeezed her daughter, "You were incredible, my dear!" and that was when Sophie realized she had been holding her breath for several minutes. She cupped Kate's face as a reminder that she was safe; her daughter's eyes were sparkling. "I am so proud of you, you were perfect!"
"Dad, did you see that?!"
"Are you okay? You're not hurt? Adrenaline tricks the brain into thinking -"
"I'm fine! Oh man, I wish you could have seen Sterling's face - like he had seen a ghost - no, like a whole army of ghost zombies! THAT WAS AWESOME!"
"Well yeah, but next time we're going to have a plan in place,"
"Dad, I did it! I crushed it! Wasn't I great?!"
"There are always things to improve, Katie, for safety. I mean, this is serious stuff."
Sophie squeezed Nate's thigh, both as assurance that their daughter was indeed safe, and as a reminder of what she needed from him in this moment. Nate sighed, really taking in the rosy-pink-cheeked, giggling young woman beaming at him for approval. He noted Sophie's hand still firmly wrapped around their daughter - she had been as worried as he was. He found that comforting; maybe he didn't need to hold all the worry himself.
"You were excellent, Katie. You were truly outstanding and very brave for your first real extraction."
Sophie smacked him in the ribs.
"- For any number extraction," he corrected. "I'm proud as hell." As Kate squealed and tackled her father in a hug, Sophie smiled in approval of his response. Perhaps he had learned a bit about giving pep talks in the last two decades.
As Eliot sped around a corner, nearing their home and HQ, Parker cheered from a different air duct system, "Yay vents!"
Now safely sandwiched between her parents, Kate recounted every moment of the day.
"How do you get used to jumping off buildings like that?!"
"You don't" replied everyone except Parker.
"Well, maybe a little," smiled Sophie, combing her fingers through Kate's curls.
/
As Kate helped Nate and Eliot unload in the garage, something dawned on her -
"Oh shit - the painting, I totally forgot - "
"This one?" The grifter sauntered around from the other side of the car; her daughter's backpack in one hand, like the typical mother of a teenager, which she was; and the stolen Matisse in the other hand, like the extraordinary art thief she was.
"How did you - ?"
"I'm Sophie Devereaux, my darling Miss Ford."
Sophie placed a kiss on Kate's forehead and snaked an arm around her shoulders. They glided toward the house.
Nate watched with adoration as they walked inside; Sophie smirking, and Kate practically bounding up and down with questions - the same fire in both their eyes.
"I can wait until tomorrow to ask why she was stealing a Matisse instead of taking a chemistry quiz, right?"
"The answer's in her DNA, but sure," Eliot chuckled. "They're not gonna help us bring this shit inside, are they?"
"Nope, no they are not." Nate grinned.
The End.